Indie

I’ve been off my game lately, but I’m going to blame it on the fact that my internet was out all last week. Anyway, I wanted to post this song because it’s a jam and if I wait too long then it’s not as cool anymore, you know? I don’t know though. The girl Ellie has got some staying power. I did post a remix to the original Active Child “Hanging On” about a month ago, so I guess me and Ellie got some similar tastes.

The overwhelmingly sense of summertime is upon me and this song is just too perfect in that regard to ignore. The Hood Internet does it again with their insanely smooth mashup bringing together two perfectly dissimilar artists/genres to create a beautifully chill summertime jam. Definitely something to ride out to with the top down. Enjoy. Life.

This post is all about that baby-wipe-soft music that makes you feel like a real man. I mean, you have to be pretty secure with yourself (or just really soft) to rock out to this shit. No but for real, don’t throw these songs on with your dudes around. As a matter of fact, it’s nothing to “rock out” to at all. Just something serene to keep the peace in private. In fact, I’m indoors on a beautiful day, alone making mac n cheese right now and it’s just perfect.

I really like this dude’s voice, and the accent works too, but boy does he need to do something about that look of his. Musically, the simple drum and echo combo in this one is literally hypnotizing.

Ellie does her best impression of The Weeknd with the cover of his break out jam “High For This”. Ellie really can’t fuck with the original vocals, and the mood of the beat is way too light in this one, but I’m still diggin it.

Now this one is on some Weeknd type vibes. Gil Scott Heron comes to mind as well. I spent a minute trying to look into this Hype Williams (?) product and what this Narcissist II project is all about, but only a minute, so I’m still kinda confused. Regardless, the aura built in this song is kinda/super intense. I like that. That’s why it was really sad to see the Celtics exit from the playoffs and, ultimately, the end of KG in Boston. Man, would I love to see him in red. Sorry if you felt that was random. Just a natural stream of thought.

Haven’t really come across anything from The XX in a while but this one really caught my ear. Nice little kick Bruno (I’m assuming that’s his name, unfortunately for him) added to this mellow jam. Good vibes.

You know the drill, atypical jams to make your Tuesday a little less typical. I could probably categorize this weekly post as “remixes to chill indie/electro shit I found on The Hype Machine,” but that seems a little long-winded. Plus, if you follow the Funk, you can tell why jams like these are out of the ordinary. It’s a necessary change of pace though, for me at least. This seems somewhat contradicting to say since a lot of the music I share that isn’t rap is in some form of a more uptempo remix, but it’s still the mellow backdrop and vocals that really catch my ear. And then it’s really just the added drum and bass that make it awesome.

You may recognize this first one from yesterday’s Mashup Monday post. DJ 21azy used it as the canvas to which he painted his Biggie & Skizzy rhymes over. Me and Xaphoon are totally on the same page when it comes to vibratory appreciation and tolerance, at least in terms of this song. Love the piano most of all, of course. And if you didn’t know, Xaphoon Jones is the beats behind Chiddy Bang (pictured above).

More good vibrations in this next one. May be better described as dark vibrations. Regardless, diggin it. And “Count Ninjula”? Really? Well done, dude. One more thing; Google image Lana Del Rey (above). Tell me you’re not intrigued….

And just in case you haven’t been up on Florence, check out her and The Machine’s live interpretation of the soon to be radio hit of the year, “Take Care” by Drake. Shout out to Flo for the flow. Holding down Drake pretty well. Did ’em justice plus some, girl.

It’s my birthday, I get high if I want to
can’t deny that I want you, but I’ll lie if I have to
‘cause you don’t say you love me to your friends when they ask you
even though we both know that you do, you do

First of all, let me say this; rappers need to do something with the N word. Seriously, I want to be able to write/sing lyrics to songs and not feel the need to censor myself from what is almost definitely the most used word in the hip hop vernacular. Now, if they don’t want to get rid of it altogether then at least make some sort of declaration that it’s okay for a white dude like me to repeat the word when referring to lyrics. I know Chris Rock already told me its okay, but I’d prefer a representative from the hip hop community set the record straight so I don’t feel awkward.

Anyway, that Childish Gambino line from “Bonfire” ironically makes sense of why I like mashups. I really don’t like putting labels on things, especially labels like “white” & “black” to distinguish what each perspective race listens to. But in very general terms, up until this point, most people would call rap/R&B music “black” and rock/indie/alternative/electro as “white.” So in those very general (not to mention extremely stereotypical while completely ignoring all other races) terms, that Gambino line reminds me of the way most of my favorite mashups seamlessly combine the aspects I love from both “black” and “white” music into perfect harmony. The promising thing to think about is how in 20 years or so that Gambino line wouldn’t even make sense. We’re well on our way to creating a beautiful blend that supersedes all labels. This is why music will save the world, btw.

This one features the aforementioned lyrics from Childish Gambino’s “Bonfire” over the beat, and with the hook, for T.I.’s “Bottle Poppin”. I’m not a big fan of the “Bonfire” joint, mainly because the beat is wack. T.I.’s beat on the other hand? Dope. So it was nice to get a fresh perspective of Gambino’s lyrics over music I can stand to listen to. In an unrelated observations, Donald’s verses kinda make T.I.’s version seem a little lazy, imo.

This one comes from same dude above, DJ 21azy. I’m pretty sure that’s pronounced “too lazy” but I’m not sure. It’s definitely written as the number 21, but I think he’s just being clever. I like it. And with this next one, not only does he continue batting 1.000 but he provides a great example of that whole white/black thing I was rambling about earlier.

I don’t know how I can still stand to listen to these vocals, but it’s a problem similar to the way I’d start vibe-ing HARD if “Turn my Swag on” ever came on in the club/at a party…smh. This definitely has not happened enough since I left college. I really need to hit a dance floor again soon!

I don’t know that I even really like the Zeds Dead part of this song. Well, I guess they mixed the whole thing, so that doesn’t make sense. To be more specific, I don’t like the hardcore dubstep vibration part at the 1:20 mark. I guess I’m just not a big fan of dubstep? I don’t get it. Because I like some light, simple dubstep sounds. But sometimes that noise just sounds like…horrible noise. Seriously, they always have so much good going for them. Why do they always have to fuck it up with that crazy noise? The beginning? Perfect. Why not just keep it at that? Btw, I am actually a big fan of that Blue Foundation song “ Eyes on Fire.” Shout out L Boogie for putting me on.

Let’s see, what have we missed in the past week since my last post? Well, Take Care dropped and I am not only thoroughly impressed with the sophomore effort, but thoroughly entertained as well. I always thought Drake was at his best as an RnB artist, rather than a rapper, and this album accentuates those talents. My favorite tracks are “Crew Love”, “Buried Alive Interlude” (which btw is performed by Kendrick Lamar), “Make Me Proud”, “Doing it Wrong” & “Practice”. Also, Childish Gambino dropped his freshman effort titled Camp. I’m also really liking that one as well. Some of his lines are a little repetitive, but his perspective, as well as sound, is brilliantly refreshing. My favorite tracks are “All the Shine”, “Heartbeat”, “Les” & “Hold You Down”. Hmmm, what else. Oh yea, the “nuclear winter” of the NBA began. Players showing resolve and willingness to actually lose money in order to take a stand against owners and their unrelenting demeaning attitude of superiority along with neglect for fair bargaining has a lot of people upset and unfortunately, out of work as well. As only he can, Bill Simmons lays it out there perfectly for everyone to understand the many different perspectives and motivations at play in this labor situation with his most recent Grantland article, MUST READ CLICK HERE. Whether it turns out to be a devastating move for the players or not, I respect and support it. I’m tired of arguing my position, and frankly anything NBA related, at this point to explain it again. But fuck, I still don’t know what I’m going to do all winter without Derrick and my Bulls though. Anyway, check out a variety of rap jams you may have missed out on too….

Omen dropped his mixtape Afraid of Heights a week or so ago. If you passed it up without a second glance, take a listen to this one and you might think twice. Really liking this jazzy joint.

Another example of good music + good raps courtesy of Nas & Amy. Great collaboration of two of the most talented ever. Unfortunately, there won’t be enough unreleased music like this to keep new Amy Winehouse in our radios forever. RIP Amy.

This one’s from Nipsey’s recently released The Marathon Continues. Gotta love what the west coast has recently been producing, talent-wise, with guys like Nipsey and Kendrick Lamar to only name a couple. Great message from Steve at the end of this song.

https://whitemencantfunk.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/02-who-detached-us-feat-steve-jobs.mp3
I think I might slowly be turning into a MGK fan. That’s going too far, but I’m definitely open to the possibility upon hearing more solid material. He sounds just like a less rugged & raw version of Yelawolf. I’m pretty sure that’s a legit comparison and not just because they’re both white. Anyway, this one is off The Madden brother’s (Good Charlotte) Complex sponsored mixtape, Before Vol. 1. Surprisingly, a lot of solid artists/sounds are featured on the project. I’m not particularly a fan of the hardcore Skrillex sound at the end of this song, however.

Atypical meaning basically anything outside of the rap, hip hop and traditional r & b that regularly dominate the FUNK. It’s nice to change things up. It’s actually pretty imperative. Anyway, I’ve been hitting these hard on the commute, especially this Keep Shelly in Athens. Speaking of commute, how is it dark out at 4:30 pm? Wtf? Shit just makes me that much more tired and ready to accomplish nothing after work. I’ve been at a loss for words the past couple days as well, so posts are lacking. Also been getting my ass back in the gym. Can’t let this NBA lockout keep me down. But I got some new music I’ll try to continue to post with or without having anything useful to say. So for now, just listen.

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